


Chasing The Dragon

by roguelightning



Category: Merlin (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguelightning/pseuds/roguelightning
Summary: Ater touching a mysterious artifact that Alex brings her, Lena starts having some rather disturbing dreams. And, as the world around her seems to make less and less sense, she finds herself having to choose between her current life and a past one. Or a sort of a reincarnation! AU that goes wrong.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 32
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [the_wanlorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_wanlorn/gifts).



> Hello again, the_wanlorn! This one was inspired by two of your prompts, actually - the one with Lena being sick and Kara taking care of her and the one with Lena being a superhero (though this is also a reincarnation AU so she'll be somewhere between being a witch and being a super... something xD). Also fair warning I watched The Haunting of Bly Manor and I'm still hurting so this might not end well. Not entirely at least. But you can go into this knowing I love Lena and I love Morgana (actually I like Katie so yeah that might explain it xD). So I'll try being nice to both of them :).
> 
> Also also I have no idea if you know Merlin so I'm trying to keep this as non-Merlin-fans friendly as I can (meaning I'm trying to make it so you don't need too much details from there to get all of this, but ah well. We'll see how that goes, won't we?)
> 
> Also late edit but it is the 1st of November and I will not finish this until fic in a box ends. I ended up writing over 10000 words for you in this challenge, so that is good, but finishing this in time is not an option sadly. So you'll just have to stick around to see what happens, I suppose. I will aim for weekly updates and I have like 2-3 chapters left so yeah, I hope you don't mind too much :).

The darkness was thick around her, almost suffocating, and she extended her arms, trying to find something, anything to ground her. Her left hand hit a wall sooner than her right, but she quickly realized she was trapped somewhere, walls surrounding her. She had no idea how she got there, but she remembered an old man looking at her in horror and disgust, like she had somehow became the embodiment of everything he had hated. She screamed for help although she didn't expect an answer, not really, at least, but the only response she got was an inhuman shriek. And that was when realization hit her. Wherever she was trapped, she was not alone. Something scaly touched her leg, making her shudder, and she went as far away from it as she could. It was probably an alien, she guessed, her mind trying to figure out who could have done this to her. But being Lena Luthor meant that there was a very long list of people who would have loved doing this.

It was a mistake anyway, focusing on that, she realized as she felt a tail encircling her legs. She was probably about to die and knowing who killed her wasn't going to do her any good.

"Who are you?" she whispered in the dark, and that was when the alien opened it's eyes. Lena expected it to look menacingly at her, but she found no malice in the creature's eyes. It was sadness and not anger in its blue eyes, Lena realized, and she unconsciously let her fingers pet the alien's head. It was stupid and dangerous and she shouldn't have known better than doing this, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew it. It was impossible, but the alien was no stranger to her. It was almost as if it had been a very dear friend of hers, a friend that they had taken away from her. She had no idea who they were, but anger filled her anyway, and as the creature screamed again, she knew that it also felt that anger, that desire to make them pay.

She fumbled in the darkness, trying to get a hold of the alien's paw, but where she expected scaly fingers she found a warm hand. 

"Lena, are you okay?" a woman asked her and she opened up her eyes, only to see that she was in her bed and Kara Danvers was sitting next to her. 

"Just a bad dream, I guess," Lena replied with a smile that didn't exactly reach her eyes. 

"You've been out for hours," Kara said on a worried tone. "Do you remember anything? The artifact Alex brought from DEO?"

"I remember she asked me to analyze it." She furrowed her brow in confusion at that, remnants of her dream still haunting her. But she was safe in her bed, holding her best friend's hand, not trapped in a ditch with her dragon. She had nothing to fear… Wait. It had been an alien, not a dragon, her rational mind insisted. She had no idea what species it had been, actually - it had been too dark for her to figure that part out. 

The truth was that she needed answers, she decided as she tried to get out of her bed, but Kara caught her before she could do that. She had always thought the blonde girl didn’t pack too much strength, but she found out her friend could be really threatening if she put her mind to it.

“You’re not going anywhere, Lena,” Kara insisted. “Not until we figure what that artifact has done to you.”

“It just gave me a bad dream, it’s not like it’s going to kill me,” Lena waved a hand in dismissal. “Besides, since when are you so interested in artifacts? Alex I get, her being DEO and all, but you? Unless you want to write a piece on it or something like that.”

“I want to find out what the hell it did to my best friend,” Kara said with a glare and Lena had to admit she was awfully cute when she did that, looking like a little ball of anger ready to fight. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this. That Kara was somehow not telling her the whole story. It was not true, of course. She trusted Kara with her life, the blonde being one of the only people in her life that didn’t seem to care about the fact that she was a Luthor. Still, there was something in Kara’s eyes that felt wrong. It reminded her of someone she had known ages ago, someone who had Kara’s blue eyes and had been the same kind of bubbly person that Kara was. Until he had ripped her heart away and betrayed her, that was. She squinted her eyes, trying to remember the man’s name, but nothing came to her.

“Are you alright, Lena?” Kara insisted, the worry in her voice still palpable. It grounded her somewhat, and she shrugged the memory away as being part of her dream.

“That’s what I keep telling you, Kara,” Lena said with an eye roll, though there was no malice in her look. “I don’t need you doting over me, by the way. Whatever this is, I can handle it,” she insisted, and this time Kara let her get out of her bed.

She stood up, the ground hard under her feet as she struggled to walk. Her feet felt wobbly, but she carried on, Kara supporting her as she went to her office.

“You shouldn’t have got out of your bed,” Alex said with a glare as she took her in. At this, Kara sighed. “You know she’s a stubborn one,” she muttered, but Lena was having none of it.

“Where is the artifact?” Lena asked, a determination she didn’t know she had in her finding her way to her voice. She had to touch it again, she realized. Whatever it was, she needed answers, and that was her safest bet.

“We’re taking it back to the DEO,” Alex replied. “I don’t know what it is, but after it made you pass out, I’m not taking any chances.”

“You will do no such thing,” Lena said, a malice in her voice she had no idea where it had come from. “I can figure it out, I just need more time,” she amended when she saw the look Alex threw her. “If you could just let me have another look at it-“

“Look, Lena,“ Kara pleaded, “Alex is right. That thing is clearly dangerous, and-“

“You will not take it away from me, Kara,” Lena spat at her. “Actually none of you will take what is rightfully mine. Not now, not ever. Not again.” She felt the anger bubbling inside her but made no move to stop it from surfacing. She vaguely noticed Kara trying to touch her, to calm her down, but she wasn’t in the mood for that. Not with all the feelings that took over her, almost causing her to scream in the process. It should have felt wrong, but it didn’t. There was a warmth in her in some way, finding its way through her body, travelling under her skin, and she found herself wondering what would happen if she let that out. 

“Lena, what’s happening to you?” Kara asked as she let her hand touch Lena’s shoulder, as if she wanted to ground her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright. But that was a lie, and Lena knew that. She slapped Kara’s hand away, barely noticing the lights in her office flickering as she did that.

“Is she doing this?” Alex asked as she pulled her taser out, watching Lena with a cautious look.

“Yes,” Lena answered, her eyes glowing gold for a while at that. It was the last thing she managed to say before the lights exploded all around her and she fell to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara wasn’t going to leave her side any time soon, Lena realized. That part was on her, actually – maybe blowing up the lights in her office hadn’t been such a good idea. She still had no idea how she had done that, the last thing she remembered being a warmth bottling up inside her, filling her to the brim, until she had had no choice but to let it out.

She could feel Kara sitting on her bed, but she refused to open her eyes for the time being. She had to think, and Kara would have only made that part harder. That, and for some reason she didn’t trust her friend at the moment. She didn’t trust any of them, actually, not after they had tried to take the artifact away from her. Of course, they had said that it was dangerous, but she knew better than that. It wasn’t the artifact they were afraid of, it was what it had done to her that scared them.

“Wake up, Lena,” she heard Kara pleading. “Whatever is wrong with you, we will find a way to fix this. I promise,” she whispered, and Lena felt anger bubbling up inside her again. There was nothing wrong with her. But she knew what was going to follow after this. First, they pretended they cared, that they were worried about you, claiming to be your friends. But the minute you exaggerated a bit, they began fearing you, and they took things from you. And once they began taking, they would never stop. Not when in their minds you would be a monster that had to be stopped. They would take and take and take, until all was left of you was an empty shell that was incapable of feeling anything. And then they would take that as well, a sword plunged in your heart by the only one you have made the mistake to consider your friend.

She knew that was what was going to happen to Kara as well, there was no doubt about that. Unless she was smarter this time, unless she played them before they could play her.

“Kara?” she asked on a weak voice, and in a second the blonde went closer to her, taking her hand in her own.

“I was so worried,” she whispered, and Lena gave out a weak laugh at that.

“I guess I have a tendency to pass out, lately,” she said on a sheepish tone. She finally opened her eyes, only to see she was not in her room as she had previously thought. The bed she was on was in a strange room, its walls padded with a soft material.

“Where am I?” Lena asked, panic filling her voice as she stood up from her bed. “How did I get here?”

“You’re at the DEO,” Kara sighed. “Alex wanted to keep a close eye on you and your lab didn’t have the technology for that so-“

“My lab was perfectly fine,” Lena snapped. “How long was I out anyway? I didn’t think it was more than a few minutes.”

“It wasn’t,” Kara agreed. “We called Supergirl and she flew you – flew us here. Alex is on her way and she’s probably going to go ballistic if she finds out I came to see you, but I didn’t want you to be alone when you woke up.”

“Where is she now?” Lena asked, her voice soft at that. “Supergirl, I mean. Perhaps having her around isn’t such a bad idea.”

“I am not afraid of you, Lena,” Kara insisted. “Whatever is happening with you I know you would never hurt me. Besides the only thing you did for now was to blow up a few neon lights.”

“That’s comforting,” Lena muttered. “I’m guessing you brought that damn thing here as well, then?”

“I have no idea,” Kara said. “But anyway, I don’t-“

“I’m not getting anywhere near that thing again,” Lena said earnestly and she could have sworn Kara let out a relieved sigh at that. “I can handle some bad dreams, but if it makes me blow up things…”

“Yeah, it’s probably better to just leave it be,” Kara agreed. “Can I bring you anything? I have no idea when Alex will return, so-“

“So I'm a prisoner here.” It wasn’t a question and Kara winced at that.

“I told you, Alex just wants to make sure you’re alright before letting you go,” she said on a small voice. “But you’re not a prisoner, Lena. How many aliens that are held here do you think get to see their friends?”

“I’m not an alien, Kara,” Lena protested. “And if I’d still have that identifying device I invented I’d prove that to you.” She gave her a small smile at that. As far as Lena knew, the device had just malfunctioned. Truth was she had helped it malfunction, but that had been just the first of a very long list of lies she had told her friend.

“You know how Alex is.” It was all the blonde had said, but Lena had to settle with that for an explanation. “But I promise that as soon as we figure out what is wrong with you we’ll let you go.”

“We?” Lena raised an eyebrow at that. “Isn’t this a bit out of your league, Kara?”

“I have some contacts,” the blonde shrugged. “Maybe if I ask around someone will mention hearing about an artifact that does weird stuff, I don’t know. I’m not letting you go through this alone anyway.”

“Thank you, Kara,” Lena all but whispered, her fingers threading lightly over her friend’s. “Does this place have a bathroom? I need some water.”

“I’ll lead you there,” Kara said with a smile. She helped Lena out of her bed and guided her to the bathroom, her touch steadying her. She seemed pretty accustomed to being inside DEO, Lena couldn’t help but thinking. And while her sister worked there, there was still no reason why she would know the place so well. And there was also this pesky habit she seemed to have got, the one with following her around at any turn. Luckily, she reluctantly gave her some privacy as soon as they got to the bathroom.

Lena went towards the sink and turned on the water, watching it how it coursed between her fingers. It was cold, but she didn’t mind that. Perhaps it would help her clear her head, she thought as she splashed it over her face. When she opened her eyes again, it wasn’t herself she saw in the mirror.

Lena grabbed the edges of the sink, trying to steady herself, but the woman in the mirror made no move. She just stood there, something between a smile and a smirk playing on her lips. She was dressed in a long, black dress, its sleeves adorned with lace. Her hair was a bit unruly, her dark, long curls flowing down her neck. When Lena made a move to touch the mirror with her fingers, the woman followed her movements, the smile on her lips a lot warmer now.

“Lena Luthor,” the woman said, her accent one that Lena couldn’t quite place. “This is your name, is it not? Tell me, what has become of our kingdom?”


	3. Chapter 3

Lena may have been the one who had entered that bathroom, but she wasn't the one who got out of it, Kara realized in horror. Sure, she acted like her, said all the things she knew Kara was expecting her to say, but she was not Lena. Not anymore. Her friend had insisted she was fine, that it had been a mere coincidence that the lights had started to flicker when she got angry, but Kara wasn't willing to take any chances with that. 

Lena had been right, after all - having Supergirl near her didn't seem a bad idea at all at the time. But Kara didn't want Lena to be comforted by Supergirl. After all, Supergirl wasn't her best friend, Kara was. And it was Kara's fault Lena didn't know they were one and the same.

Still, she had no choice. So she came up with a stupid excuse and left, trying her best to ignore how relieved Lena looked at that.

She came back a few minutes later, this time dressed as Supergirl, wearing a confident smile she wasn't feeling. She found Lena sitting on her bed, a lost look in her eyes, as if she was miles away from her.

"Kara sent you, didn't she?" Lena asked, a pang of bitterness tainting her voice, and Supergirl gave her an apologetic shrug.

"You know what she is like," she said with a smile. "She was worried about you."

"Everyone is, these days," Lena said as she rolled her eyes. "But I am glad you are here. Kara wouldn't have liked to see this. Neither will you, but at least you don't have to pretend."

"I don't-" Supergirl began to say, but Lena raised a finger, stopping her from finishing her sentence.

"You will let me out of here," Lena said on a cold tone. "I have a lot of catching up to do and I cannot do it from here."

"I am sorry, Lena, but until we figure out what happened to you-" She didn't get to finish that sentence either, because Lena raised her hand at her, sending her into the opposite wall with just a flick of her hand. 

"It wasn't a request, Supergirl," she said coldly, relishing the look of horror on the superheroine's face. "As you can see, I've learned to do other things besides blowing up lightbulbs since you last saw me," she said with a smirk. "And we both know you would never hurt me, so I suggest you move out of the way while you still can."

"Who are you and what have you done with Lena?" Supergirl asked with a glare as she stood up, posting herself between Lena and the door.

"Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to, old friend?" She seemed rather pensive now. "Or maybe you haven't remembered yet. But you will."

"Leave her alone." Her voice was more threatening now. "I don't know who you are but you don't want to piss me off."

"I am a priestess of the old religion," the woman said in a cold tone. "I have awoken and I will take what is rightfully mine. And trust me, Supergirl, you don't want to stop me."

"I want you to get out of Lena first," Supergirl said, determination filling her voice. But the woman didn't answer. Instead, she headed to the door, an expectant look on her face. When Kara didn't move, she closed the distance between them, her lips threading softly over Kara's ear as she spoke.

"I think I wasn't clear enough, Kara," she spat at her. "I have Lena's body, but I also have her memories. And unlike her, I am able to see past a ponytail and a stupid pair of… what are they called? Glasses? You don't want me to tell Lena about this. She's currently stuck in a dream right now, but I could tell her some stories. Stories about your stupid tendency to act as a friend while hiding from us, about the way you pretend to be this clueless bumbling fool who is the only one who understands us, only to be the one that stabs us in the back in the end. But you were never powerless, were you? No, you were the strongest of us, but you didn't tell us that. You didn't even try to help, because saving the world was far more important for you than saving us."

"Have we met before?" 

"As I said, you don't remember yet," Lena sighed. "Perhaps you need to touch the artifact as well. Or perhaps you already remember and you just act like you don't. I wouldn't put it past you, after all you were never more than a filthy liar."

"I lied to Lena to protect her," Kara said, her voice trembling.

"This is the lie you tell yourself this time?" The woman asked in a mocking tone. "You're not too inventive in this life, Emrys,” she sighed. "But then again, you used to disguise yourself better. I have no idea when you decided that a ponytail and a pair of glasses was a better disguise than an old man. I do like you more like this, however," she said as her hand caressed Kara's face. But the superheroine caught her hand, pushing her into the door.

"Whoever you are, it appears you believe we have some unfinished business together. But that's on us, not on Lena. So get out of her and then we can talk."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Lena smiled. "I need someone to carry me around. And if she's someone you don't like to hurt, that's even better," she said as she yanked her hand from Kara's hand. She held it up between them, watching the way her skin had bruised under Kara's touch. 

"Look what you've done to me, Kara," she said, a sadistic smile on her face. "What you've done to Lena. I could heal this, but it would be a waste of magic. Plus your face makes all the pain worth it. Now if you don't want to hurt Lena anymore than this, you will step aside."

"Never," Kara said, her voice trembling.

"Have it your way, then," the woman sighed. She pushed Kara away, hitting her with a wave of magic that caused her to fall on the ground. The blonde tried getting up, but found herself being held on the ground by an unknown force, as if a heavy weight was being held on top of her. She planted her palms firmly into the ground, trying to get herself up, the effort making her scream in pain. Still, she wasn't fast enough. By the time she got up, Lena had already left, slamming the door to the wall as she left.


	4. Chapter 4

The incantation came to her  faster than she expected, putting everyone at the DEO in a deep sleep as soon as they tried to stop her. It was a strange world, this one, but she was going to make it her  own. She felt Lena protesting somewhere in the back of her mind, but she chose to ignore it.  Her body now belonged to her, and while she felt a little pity for the young woman, she had bigger fish to catch. She wasn’t alone in this world, she knew that now,  the blue in Kara's eyes painfully familiar.  Some things never changed, after all, and it seemed that  no matter how many incarnations passed, they were still backstabbing  people that lied about their true nature.

“Lena, wait!”  Supergirl called out,  her eyes just taking in the fallen people around her. “What have you done?” she whispered, horror tainting her voice .

“Relax, they’re not dead. Just under a sleeping spell. And I suggest you don’t try to stop me if  you want them to stay that way.”

“A spell? What are you, some kind of witch now? Listen, whoever you are,  I know we can solve-“ she didn’t manage to finish her sentence because Lena shoved her  in the opposite wall, her hand closing around her neck.

“I thought I was clear about this, Kara Danvers,” the woman spat the  words at  her. “You cannot stop me from taking me what is mine. Nobody can. ”

“You said you have Lena’s memories,” Kara said, choking out the words. “Then you know I will  do anything in my power to stop you,” she said as she grabbed Lena's hand and got it  away from her neck.

“I was hoping you would say that, Emrys,” the woman smiled at her. “But I am afraid we will have to settle this another day. You have weaknesses in this life, and I intend to take full advantage of them. But until then… Sleep tight.” With a golden flash of her eyes, she put Kara to sleep, just like she had done with the others. Lena could have that for now, she decided. Kara was going to live, at least for the time being.

Supergirl woke up hours later, Alex hovering above her with a tensed look on her face. 

“What happened? Is Lena-” she said as she struggled to get up.

“Lena left,” Alex said with a sigh. “I came back too late. It’s my fault, I should have never let you alone with her.”

“If Supergirl couldn’t stop her, I doubt you could have done much,”  J’onn said as he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You didn’t know what you are facing. None of us did.”

“And you do?” Kara asked, hope finding its way in her voice. “She seems different, J’onn. Like she’s being possessed or something. And whoever is inside her... She knows. She knows I’m Supergirl,” the blonde said on a small tone, her voice breaking a bit at that. “She threatened to tell Lena.”

“ J’onn was able to recognize the artifact, Kara,” Alex said, something in her tone telling the blonde she was not going to like this. “I don’t get the specifics too much, but-”

“It provides access to the collective consciousness,”  J’onn explained. “It’s similar to what Martians use for passing their knowledge to the next generations, actually. Only it doesn’t get you access to the Martian collective consciousness, but the one you have here on Earth.”

“Earth doesn’t have such thing,” Kara protested. “Not that I know of, anyway.”

“I thought the same thing. Earthlings aren’t advanced enough for that, but I suppose throughout history there were beings that managed to preserve themselves somehow.”

“And you think one of those beings is inside Lena now?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but-”

"Lena just hit me and half of the DEO with a sleeping spell, as she put it,” Kara sighed. “Crazy doesn’t even begin to cover it.  Also she thinks she knows me from a past life or something like that. Keeps calling me Emrys.” That made Alex’s eyes go wide.

“Wait. Sleeping spells? Emrys? As in Merlin?” Brainy called from the other room as he rushed to them.

“What?”

“Tell me, J’onn,” Brainy said, a glint in his eyes Kara really didn’t like. “You said there could have been some beings that managed to preserve themselves in the collective consciousness, right? But you don’t see normal humans doing that, do you? They’d have to have powers of some sort, psychic powers most likely-”

“Yes.”

“Powers that would have made people in the Middle Ages see them as witches.”

“Possibly? I don’t get where you’re going with this.”

“Emrys was another name for Merlin,” Brainy explained. “The one in the Arthurian legends, that is. And his nemesis was Morgana Le Fay. One of the most powerful witches that ever existed, until he killed her. But you know, some people say that Merlin is still roaming the Earth, waiting for the moment Arthur will come back from the dead. I can think of no reason why Morgana wouldn’t do the same.”

“You just said she died,” Alex protested. “And anyway, do you hear yourself? Do you really think Lena is being possessed by a medieval witch?”

“She did tell me she is a priestess of the old religion,” Kara said, her nose scrunching a bit as she thought. “Whatever she is, she is powerful. She managed to put me to sleep with just a wave of her hand.”

“Which makes her dangerous, actually,” Alex said with a glare. “I am going to alert all my agents. We need to get her back here. Whatever it takes.”

“No,” Kara said, determination in her voice. “I don’t care who is inside her body at the moment,” she said on a tone that didn’t admit objections. “She’s still Lena, and she’s our friend. We can’t hurt her.”

“Actually, Kara, maybe it’s best you sit this one out,”  J’onn suggested. “You’re a bit too involved and-”

“I am the only one she wants and I don’t care if it’s because she thinks I’m her long-lost enemy or something,” Kara cut him off. “I am going to settle this.”

“Like you did the last time?” Alex protested. “No offense, Kara, but you don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“Then I’m open to hearing ideas from you,” Kara sighed. “But not ones that involve hurting her.”

“Actually, I might have an idea,” Brainy said. “Not sure about the hurting her part, however.”


	5. Chapter 5

This was a stupid idea and Kara knew it. Considering the fact that it had been Brainy that had come up with it, it made their situation feel a bit hopeless, but Kara couldn't think about that. Not when Lena's life was at stake. Not when she had already done so much wrong to her already. So there she was, standing in her Supergirl outfit in front of LCorp, ready to do something that could have possibly ended up killing her best friend. 

The minutes felt like hours and Kara realized that there was a very dark part of her that wished she wouldn't come. That she was going to go somewhere else, where she would end up being someone else's problem. But that was a thing. To anyone but her, a Luthor was a threat from the beginning. A Luthor possessed by the spirit of one of the most powerful witches to have ever existed? That was something you had to get rid of. Of course, her friends had been encouraging enough, claiming that they wanted Lena back as well, but Kara knew better than that. If any of them had had to choose between Lena and the rest of the world, Lena was the one who was going to die. And that was exactly why she couldn't allow any of them near her again. Not until she fixed this, at least.

Lena came minutes later, a smirk on her lips as she closed the distance between them. Her eyes were glowing gold and she threw Kara a glare, but the superheroine raised her hands in a peaceful gesture.

"I'm not here to stop you, Lady Morgana," she said as she landed, bowing her head just slightly.

"Drop the act, Merlin," the other woman answered as she rolled her eyes. "You never addressed me properly, not me and not my idiot of a brother. You want me to believe that in this century you have manners all of a sudden?"

"You died and your consciousness was somehow uploaded in the collective consciousness," Kara explained. "Merlin didn't do any of this. He died an old man, probably, waiting for Arthur to return, but he never did. You were the one who managed to survive all this time, not him."

"You're lying," Morgana said, though there was a degree of uncertainty in her voice.

"You used to have a telepathic connection with your sister Morgause, did you not?"

"Don't you dare speak her name!" Morgana screamed, her magic causing the windows behind Kara to shatter. Still, the superheroine didn't flinch.

"I am sorry, but the fact remains. You can read my mind if you want to, see that I speak the truth."

Morgana furrowed her brow at that, but she gave Kara a slight nod. “That only proves the fact that you believe what you’re saying. It doesn’t mean it is the truth, however.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Morgana,” Kara said on a small voice. “You did take my friend from me, that is true, and I was mad at you for that, but I had no idea who you were. I had no idea what they had done to you.”

“What they did to me.” Morgana sounded more contemplative now. “You have no idea about that, Kara. What did you do, look me up on that Internet thing?”

“Mostly?” Kara said on a sheepish tone. “I had to know what I was facing, didn’t I? They hurt you, Morgana, hurt you in ways that I could never understand, but I can help you. I can give you what you want. Nobody saw Aithusa die, you know? Which means there’s still a chance she’s alive somewhere, waiting for you. The lifespan of a dragon is what, a few centuries? And if she was smart enough to lay low, which you know she was-“

“There would have been legends of her death if anyone had managed to kill her,” Morgana mused. “You found none of that, did you?”

“No. So it means there is a chance she is still alive, is it not?”

The witch gave no answer to that, though the gold in her eyes faded out a little. Kara practically could see the wheels in her mind turning. She didn’t know too much about Aithusa, but she knew that it was one of the few creatures that Morgana had been able to count as an ally. She had loved that dragon more than anything, and if she thought Kara could help her get back to her… Maybe that was how she would get her to trust her. Maybe she would even give back Lena a little control.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice at first when the witch’s face contorted in an evil grin. 

“You say you could never understand how they hurt me,” Morgana said on a contemplative tone. “But you’re lying to yourself, just as you lie to yourself with everything else you’ve told me, Kara.”

“What?”

“Merlin used to be my best friend,” Morgana sighed. “He seemed clumsy and mostly a dork, but I thought I could trust him. He knew about the fact that I had magic, and for a while he was ok with it. Of course, I had no idea who he was. I had no idea what powers he had. He could have helped me with my magic, he could have told me the truth, but instead he handed me over to the druids so that I became their problem and not his. Anything to get me out of the way, I suppose,” the witch laughed bitterly. “And he did all this while pretending to be my friend. While deep down he feared me, feared what I could become. I could have been good if he trusted me, you know. It shouldn’t have ended in blood and betrayal.”

“You’re right, it shouldn’t have. And it doesn’t have to end like that now. If only you’d let me help you-“ Kara said, closing the distance between her and the witch.

“Help me?” Morgana spat at her. “You may not be Merlin, but you’re just like him. And Lena may be a child, but she is a bit like me. Feared by everyone because of what’s in her blood. Denied her birthright because she just happens to have a brother who thinks himself smarter than she is.”

“Lex is a bastard and the only reason their parents love him more is because they’re bastards as well,” Kara said. “There is nothing Lillian can give Lena that Lena actually needs, believe me. She’s way better off without her family.”

“And then there’s her best friend,” Morgana continued, ignoring Kara. “Her clumsy, dorky friend she trusts more than anything else in her life. Because she seems to be the only one who trusts her. The only one who doesn’t fear her. But it’s all a lie. Because that clumsy dorky friend just happens to be the most powerful being on Earth. And you’d think she’d at least tell her that, but she never did.”

“Supergirl has a lot of enemies,” Kara said, her voice trembling just a bit. “The minute they find out Lena knows about my real identity, they will come for her.”

“Right, there is also that. Of course, there are a lot of people who know about you and you never thought about that when it came to them, but suddenly with Lena you get all protective.”

“She’s been hurt enough,” Kara protested. She heard Alex whisper something in her communicator, telling her that she should quit talking and carry on with their plan, but she chose to ignore it. Morgana didn’t seem a threat now, and if she could avoid hurting Lena…

“Now, Kara!” Alex screamed, but the superheroine was too focused on Morgana to listen. 

“You know what will hurt Lena the most, however?” Morgana asked, a devious smile forming on her lips. “Loving you.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know, did you?” Morgana laughed. “Of course not. You’re too blind for that. But she is in love with you, which doesn’t say anything good about her taste, to be honest, but you know what that also means? That you were right about not hurting me. You can’t do it now, no matter what words your sister whispers in your ear. And now you might actually consider helping me for real.”

She was so focused on the superheroine that she missed the weird way an old lady on the sidewalk was looking at her. She also missed when that old lady took a gun from the shopping cart she was carrying.

“J’onn, no!” Kara screamed, but it was too late. The old lady had already shot Morgana and the witch fell to the ground, her gloating smile dying on her lips as she hit the pavement.


	6. Chapter 6

At first, Lena had no idea where she was. She opened her eyes slowly, finding herself on a couch in  Kara’s apartment. She knew that couch well – it was the same couch she stood on each time she went to Kara’s game nights. But it didn’t make any sense to her – how had she got there? The last thing she remembered  was  standing in the bathroom at the DEO, looking in the mirror and not seeing herself. There had been that woman, the one that looked almost like her, fire  and rage b urning in her  eyes. She remembered something about a kingdom and then… nothing. It was as if she had fallen asleep and  she had just woken up.

“Hey, you,” she heard someone whisper and she turned around, only to see Kara  watch her with a guilty smile.

“How did I get into your apartment?” Lena asked,  but Kara just shrugged at that.

“You have your brain to thank for that,” she said. “ We’re not really in your apartment, actually. It’s more like… we're in your  mind palace. Or inside your brain, if you want to be blunt about it.”

“What? Why?”

“How much did Morgana tell you, actually?” Kara asked. She seemed terrified, Lena noticed,  the blonde girl having sat in an armchair, not daring to look her in the eyes.

“Morgana? Is that her name?”

“Morgana Pendragon, actually,” Kara sighed, though Lena could tell she was a lot more relieved now. “ How familiar are you with the Arthurian legends?”

“ My mother was Irish, Kara,” Lena said with a smile, but it quickly died on her lips. “Wait. Are you telling me that she’s the woman I saw in the mirror?”

“ I don't know anything about that, actually. But remember that artifact you touched? Apparently it gave you access to the collective consciousness and  a part of Morgana attached herself to you.”

“Are you telling me I am being possessed by the spirit of a witch from the middle ages? That’s ridiculous ,” Lena laughed. “This is probably just a weird dream I am having.”

“We’ve placed you in an induced coma,” Kara said as she took the other woman’s hand in hers. ” Not the best idea we had, but Morgana had taken over your body and she’s… not exactly friendly.”

“She seemed hurt more than anything else,” Lena said on a small voice. “Like she had been betrayed by everyone she ever cared about. I know how that feels.”

“ She hurt people, Lena, ” Kara protested. “She needs to be stopped.”

“You mean I hurt people,” Lena said, her voice trembling now. She reached a hand to Kara’s face, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Did I hurt you?” she asked, not daring to look her in her eyes.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she said, offering her a brave smile she wasn’t quite feeling. “About that,  I have to tell you something.”

“Oh now you want to tell her something?”  Morgana said as she materialized in the living room, a smirk on her lips.  “Nice trick with that weapon, by the way.  But this is still some sort of a telepathic connection, and trying to best me at that… not your smartest move, Kara.”

“Leave her out of this,” Lena said, gathering all the courage she could muster. Take my body if you need it, but leave  Kara alone.”

“I tried, youngling, believe me, I tried,” Morgana sighed dramatically. “But  she has this nasty habit of getting in my way.”

“ She’s just a reporter, it’s not like she can stop you.”

“I wish that were true, for your sake if for nothing else, young one,” Morgana sighed. “I cannot blame you for being blind, though. For refusing to accept the truth  even when it stares in your eyes.  For falling in love with  our enemy… that I can blame you a bit for.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about ,” Lena denied as fast as she could, but Morgana only laughed at her. “We’re inside your mind, Lena.  And I may not know how this mind palace incantation works, but it seems fair to assume it conjures a place you feel safe in. You could have been in your laboratory, but no. You chose Kara’s apartment, the one place you feel safe in. The one place you don’t feel like you’re being judged all the time. ”

“Get out of my head,” Lena said, glaring at her.

“Maybe. Just wait until I get the trash out.”

Saying this, she grabbed Kara by her throat,  smashing her into the opposite wall. The blonde winced in pain, but made no move to stop her.

“Tell me, Kara,” Morgana said with a smirk. “What happens if you die here ? Your body is not here, obviously, but if I manage to kill your mind –“

“I have no idea,” Kara admitted. “But I sure as hell don’t want to find out.”. She grabbed Morgana's hand, trying to take it away from her throat, but it didn’t budge.

“You’re  going to have to try harder than that,” Morgana smirked. “You left the one realm you had an edge over me in and you came here,” the witch laughed. “It almost makes this too easy to be fun,” she said as she threw Kara on the ground. Lena rushed to  her, kneeling next to her as she took her hand in her own. 

“You can’t fight her, Kara,” she said, her voice trembling. “She’s too powerful and-“

“I would do anything to get you back,” Kara whispered. “She told me some things about you, you know. Tried to manipulate me into being afraid of her and what she knows. But the truth is, Lena… only you can get us out of this.  But for this, you have to know the truth. I have hidden things from you, Lena, things that will make you hate me. But I don’t want to die here without you knowing the truth. I have been a bad friend to you, Lena, just like  Supergirl was.”

“What has  Supergirl got to do with this?”

“Everyone sees  Supergirl like this almighty heroine,” Kara said, a small laugh on her  lips. “But the truth is, she’s just like anyone else in the end.” At that, she  brought her hair down, letting it fall on her shoulders. “Just a dork who's terrified of losing the woman she loves,” she whispered as she took off her glasses and  looked up at Lena.


	7. Chapter 7

“Her pulse is increasing,” Alex whispered as she shot a glance at Lena’s vitals. “Whatever Kara is doing in there, I hope she knows what she’s doing.”

“Lena is her best friend,” J’onn said on a comforting tone. “She would do anything to save her.”

“That’s what I am afraid of.”

“This was our only option. If we hurt Lena more than we already had…” Brainy said on a sad tone.

“Kara would have never forgiven us, I know,” Alex sighed. “I just hope they’ll both be alright.”

“You lied to me,” Lena said, so much defeat in her voice it made Kara’s heart break. “All this time, I trusted you, I thought you were the only one I could trust not to see me as a Luthor, and you lied to me.”

“Lena, listen-“

“No, Kara. You know, I was mad at Morgana for taking over my body, but if she has been betrayed by her friends, I understand why she is mad.”

“Actually my best friend poisoned me,” Morgana said with a sad smile. “You got out earlier, though considering Kara here let her friend shoot you, I would say our situations are not that different. But I can change this, Lena,” she said as she kneeled besides her. “You’re so young, but I can see how much potential you have in you. Together we can make them pay. Anyone who hurt us, who was afraid of what we could become because of what’s in our blood… We could show them they had every right to be afraid of us.”

“Don’t listen to her, Lena,” Kara said on a pleading tone. “I know you, and you’re nothing like this. She’s just manipulating you.”

At this, Lena through her a glare. “And tell me, Supergirl, how is that any different than what you’ve been doing to me since the moment I met you? I can’t believe I was so stupid! You gave me that bullshit with I flew here on a bus and I believed you, for fucks’ sake! Because I thought you wanted to be my friend, I thought…” she made a pause at that. “I thought you loved me,” she finally admitted, her words barely a whisper. “But a Super can never love a Luthor.”

“You’d be surprised,” Kara laughed. “Maybe I can’t love a Luthor, but I can love the most amazing woman I ever met. This beautiful and brilliant woman who spends her life trying to make the world better, despite what the world thinks of her. And I know I hurt you, but I also know that you could never do what Morgana is asking of you. And even if you did, you will never be able to forgive yourself for it.”

“So touching,” Morgana said as she rolled her eyes. “It’s amazing what lies people say when their lives are at stake.”

“You won’t hurt Kara,” Lena said. “You can have my body and we will throw her out of our mind, but you will not hurt her.”

“I have a better offer,” Kara said as she stood up, placing herself between Lena and Morgana. “Take me instead.”

“What?” The witch sounded intrigued now. “You would do that? Sacrifice yourself for your friend like that?”

“You know this is the best bargain you can get,” Kara said on a determined tone. “People don’t like Lena that much, but they do like me. By the time they realize what happened, it will be too late. You could get your revenge, not to mention the power you would have.”

“Kara, no,” Lena said, her voice barely a whisper. “You don’t get Morgana like I do. She’s dangerous, but she can be reasoned with. You can’t do that, however, and letting her inside your body-“

“It’s not my best idea, I know,” the blonde said with a smile as she took Lena’s hand in her own. “But you were right, Lena. I was a bad friend to you. Both me and Supergirl were. And while I started to lie to you out of love, it turned out to be a selfish move in the end. I didn’t tell you the truth because I was afraid I will lose you. That I will lose the only person I could afford being vulnerable with. The one person who saw me as Kara and loved me for that.”

“Are you a dumbass all the time or only when you’re Supergirl?” Lena asked, tears running down her face now.

“Probably both,” Kara smiled. “But as long as it saves you, I don’t care.”

“You are a strange woman, Kara,” Morgana said, her tone a lot softer than the blonde would have expected. “And you were right about one thing. You’re not Merlin. He would have never done this for me. Maybe he would have done it for Arthur, but sacrifice himself for me like that? No chance.”

“You deserved better,” Kara admitted. “Before you turned evil, that was. Lena deserves better too, though. Which is why I have to ask her to promise that she will not tell anyone about this.” She looked at Lena at that, a determined look in her eyes. “Do you hear me, Lena? You will wake up and we will both pretend that we’ve defeated Morgana, that we’re safe.”

“I can’t do that,” Lena whispered.

“You can and you will, Lena,” Kara insisted as she closed the distance between them. “I wish I would have had the time to do this while we both had a body of our own, but…” she sighed as her fingers caressed Lena’s face. “I don’t expect you to forgive me any time soon, Lena,” she whispered, her lips hovering over Lena’s. “I don’t fully expect this to work either. But it will save you and right now, this is the only thing that matters.” 

“Kara…”

“You will wake up and you will tell Brainy that it’s done, alright?” Kara cut her off. “I cannot stress how important it is to make him believe you.” When Lena nodded at that, Kara placed a soft kiss on her lips, before turning back to Morgana.

“I am ready,” she said with a smile as she offered Morgana her hand. “Just follow my consciousness and it will take you to where my body is.”

“Kara, no!” Lena screamed as she grabbed Kara’s hand. But the blonde only smiled at her. “I have to do this, Lena. And you have to wake up. For me. Please,” she whispered. “It’s hard to get out of a place like this, believe me, I know, but in the end you’re the one that holds the key to this place. You’re the only one who decides when to wake up. And I really need you to wake up now, OK?”

It was the last thing she said before both her and Morgana disappeared and Lena was left alone in the room. She practically ran to the door and flung her open, saving Kara being the only thing on her mind.

She woke up in a bed at the DEO, a strange man hovering above her. 

“Is it done?” the man asked as he took her hand, but she slapped him away. “Where is Kara?” Lena asked in a fearful tone. “She convinced Morgana to take over her body, I have to-” she stopped mid-sentence when she noticed there were wires connecting her to the artifact.

“What are you doing to me?” she asked with a glare. “Let me out, I need to find Kara, I need to-”

“Did it work?” Alex asked as she practically ran in the room, cutting her off.

“What?” Lena asked in a confused tone.

“Long story, I’ll explain later,” Alex smiled. “It’s good to have you back, though.”

“You don’t understand!” Lena screamed at her. “Kara-”

“Kara is fine, Lena,” Alex smiled at her.

“Alex I swear to God if you don’t get me out of this I will-”

“You’ll what, Lena?” Kara asked with a smile as she flew into the room. She knelt besides Lena’s bed, her face lit up by the most beautiful smile Lena had ever seen.

“Hi,” she whispered to a confused Lena, but the woman just glared at her. “I told them everything, Morgana,” she said in a threatening tone. “I will get you out of Kara’s body if it is the last thing I do.”

“Is it safe?” Kara asked Brainy and when he nodded she took off the wires from Lena’s forehead, her touch light as a feather.

“Morgana is gone, Lena,” she said in a comforting tone. “It wasn’t exactly me that was in your head, you know?” she explained. “Brainy here figured that if we could upload a simplified version of my mind in the artifact and convince Morgana to follow it-”

“You could trap her inside it again, get her back into the collective consciousness.” Lena said, grinning despite herself.

“Genius, isn’t it?” Brainy said with a smirk. “I mean, sure, Morgana could have figured this out and she could have killed both of you, but you have to admit it was still a brilliant plan.”

“Lena, Brainy, Brainy, Lena,” Kara sighed. “He’s usually less inclined to kill me in the name of science, I promise.”

“If you weren’t really in my mind, it means you have no idea what you told me back there, right?” Lena asked, a tint of sadness in her voice. “You don’t know what you’ve done, or what-”

“I have a pretty good idea,” Kara said with a smile as she took Lena’s hand in her own. “I don’t expect you to be alright with all of this, for the record.”

“I am not,” Lena replied, not looking at Kara for now. “At least, not yet.”

“I’m not asking you to be,” Kara whispered in a soft tone. “I’m just asking you to try.” At this, the brunette smiled at her as she squeezed her hand.

“I believe I can do that, Kara Danvers.”

“It’s Kara Zor-El, actually,” she said and Lena nodded. “I think I can get used to that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, guys! I am honestly overwhelmed by the response that this fic got, considering I am not that much in this fandom. You have been amazing and you've turned what was supposed to be merely fulfilling a challenge into something way bigger than I originally planned. I may have rushed things a bit at the end and I don't believe Kara and Lena will be 100% fine after this because no matter how you put it Kara was still a dick for lying to Lena this whole time and that will not change in any universe, but... I just wanted them to be cute together. As a treat. For me mostly, call me selfish if you want xD.
> 
> Also for the_wanlorn, if you're still reading this... The dragon thing didn't work out, I'm sorry xD. But I may write one more chapter as an epilogue to sort of fix that xD. I'll think about it but I'm not making any promises yet :P.


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